Why The Chocolate In Alita: Battle Angel Means More Than You Realize

Based on the '90s manga "Battle Angel Alita" and its 1993 anime adaptation "Battle Angel," the live-action film "Alita: Battle Angel" became a surprise cult hit when it was released in early 2019. Fans quickly embraced the strong, cyberpunk-influenced production design, colorful imagery, and unusual action sequences helmed by director Robert Rodriguez following its release (via The Independent). Following its February 2019 debut, "Alita" has become a blockbuster for 20th Century Studios, earning $405 million at the world box office on a $170 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).

Set in the year 2563 on a dystopian future Earth, scientist and bounty hunter Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) discovers a female cyborg in disrepair. The brain is still intact, so Ido attaches it to another body and names her "Alita" in the process. The humanoid Alita (played by Rosa Salazar) has no memory of her past identity. As she grows comfortable with her new life, she falls in love with a human named Hugo (Keean Johnson) and enters the murderous Motorball racing tournaments — both of which help bring back memories of her old life. In the process, however, Alita crosses Vector (Mahershala Ali) and his boss, Nova (Edward Norton), the mostly unseen overlord of the wealthy city of Zalem. 

The movie's cult status most likely stems from fans coming together to discuss various aspects of the Rodriguez-directed picture. But even the truly enthusiastic "Alita" fans who've pored over this movie ad nauseam may not know the origins of a fascinating element of the titular protagonist's introduction into the world of humans.

Early in "Alita: Battle Angel," Hugo buys Alita a chocolate bar as part of her discovery of and fascination with the human world. Eating chocolate is something she's never had before and immediately loves, of course. As the young cyborg takes her first bites of the sweet treat, she immediately treasures it and goes on to exclaim, "That is so great! I have a favorite food now," much to Hugo's delight.

Lucky for Alita, that bite of chocolate that inspires a love of the food isn't some mass-produced candy. The bar used in "Alita" is, in fact, made by director Robert Rodriguez at his home. Known for cooking for the casts of his projects, Rodriguez confirmed his handiwork within the movie in a 2019 Nerd Reactor interview. He explained, "The chocolate that she eats in there, I made that chocolate. I made the bar. I'm a chocolatier. That's in the movie. I usually have everyone over to my house and I cook for everybody, and it's part of the fun of the movie project."

And if you want to make Alita's Iron City chocolate at home, now you can. Rodriguez shot a cooking school featurette for the DVD so fans have a way to produce the delicious treat themselves. Hopefully, if you do end up making it, it'll be a good treat to enjoy while rewatching "Alita: Battle Angel."